tag:Community Blogs:blogCommunity Blogsul/user/2/20265-stevepixelsmugshotjpg-avatar.jpgstevesanhttp://www.destructoid.com/blogs/stevesan2011-11-21T00:56:54ZCommunity Blogs:282751How about..."abridged versions" for games? - stevesanstevesan2014-10-18T13:24:04Z2014-10-18T13:24:04Z
<p>One of the biggest tragedies of our modern human condition is&nbsp;that, often times, we wish to play a video game that we know we would enjoy, but we don't have the free time to really sink our teeth into it&nbsp;like we used to when we were teenagers. Oof that was a long sentence.&nbsp;This sentiment was expressed recently by <a href="http://www.polygon.com/2014/10/14/6974791/short-games-review">Ben Kuchera</a>.</p>
<p>I want to propose a new business practice&nbsp;that may&nbsp;solve this problem: like some long books, release "abridged versions" of long video games. How much would you pay for a re-edit of Alien: Isolation that is only 5-10 hours long, without all the filler crap that most reviews have complained about? If I knew there was a shorter version, made shorter on purpose by the developers so it's still a full and cohesive experience, I would buy that right now for $20-30. But as it is&nbsp;currently, I'm going to wait for it to go on sale for $10 so I can play half of it and then quit.&nbsp;</p>
<p>From a developer point of view (I'm a developer), it definitely would take some effort to create the abridged version. I would estimate about 1-2 months of time, depending on how much of the game is just filler (which can be cut out easily) vs. crucial content. I imagine, for many games, there is plenty that is simply non-essential.&nbsp;Even games that aren't what we may call "long" could release abridged versions. Half-Life 2 could probably be cut into a 5 or so hour game without all the vehicle sections, which really didn't add all that much.</p>
<p>One could argue that this messes up the pacing of the game, but I would argue back that the pacing of a lot of games&nbsp;is too slow&nbsp;to begin with. When was the last time you played a 10+ hour game that didn't start to out stay its welcome a bit? That combined with my limited free time these days means that, more and more, I just don't buy games that I would otherwise be interested in. A monumental tragedy, indeed.</p>
<p>I imagine the hardest part of doing this, however, would be deciding what to cut. It's already difficult to get developers to cut things, since people on the team can get attached to the smallest of details. But then again, this is just for the abridged version - all that amazing stuff you worked on is still in the full version! So maybe the arguments would be less heated.</p>
<p>I can think of so many games I would gladly buy and play if they had abridged versions. Most of BioWare's games. Even a lot of&nbsp;first person shooters that are more than 10 hours long. How much they get abridged probably would depend on the original game. Maybe Mass Effect 2 shouldn't get abridged to 2 hours, but 20 hours may be reasonable.</p>
<p>What do you guys think? What are some games you would be interested in if they released abridged versions? Are there any examples of this already?</p>
Community Blogs:275369Transistor and San Francisco Gentrification - stevesanstevesan2014-05-25T14:54:40Z2014-05-25T14:54:40ZThis is not a definitive "what does Transistor mean?" post where I painstakingly layout a theory and prove it using every obscure detail in the game. This is more of a..."this is what Transistor reminded me of as I played it." This is also not a value judgment on gentrification either - that is a can of worms that should be opened elsewhere, but if this blog post makes you interested in opening it, then great! OK? OK. Here...we...go.
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<br/>(minor spoiler warning)
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<br/>We can agree that Transistor is definitely a game about a city that is being overrun by some people and a Process, literally and by name, that is having a sort of homogenizing effect on everything. It's turning everything white (EDIT: Not trying to imply anything racial here, it's just what happens in the game, and it's in stark contrast with the colorful diversity of the city as it was before. Sure, you can read tons of racial themes into that, but I'm not here to do that. We can certainly have that discussion another time.). It's getting rid of the cool hang outs and bars that its former citizens pine for. It's sucking the life and personality out of the city.
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<br/>I work in San Francisco, and given that SuperGiant Games is also located in San Francisco, I couldn't help but be reminded of all the drama and debate that has bubbled up (no pun intended) in the past few years regarding the city's gentrification. I won't go into much detail about what has happened to the city, but suffice to say, the tech boom has transformed the city in a direction that many of its more entrenched citizens do not much like. And it has sometimes turned mildly violent. If you're interested, here are some articles you can read about this stuff:
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<br/><a target="_blank" href="http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/saunders/article/Bay-Bridge-Too-big-to-fail-5194164.php">http://www.newsweek.com/2014/04/25/tech-boom-forces-ruthless-gentrification-san-francisco-248135.html</a>
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<br/><a target="_blank" href="http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/saunders/article/Bay-Bridge-Too-big-to-fail-5194164.php">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_bus_protests</a>
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<br/>So you can connect the dots here. The Process is gentrification, CloudBank is San Francisco, etc. etc. Hell, there's even some drama about a bridge (http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/saunders/article/Bay-Bridge-Too-big-to-fail-5194164.php). And if you're not a computer programmer, you may not notice this, but all the lingo of the game is related to computer programming. "Process killed" is something a Linux administrator may do. A function() is a fundamental concept in programming. Hell, a "transistor" is what makes modern computers function at all. Point is, computer programming has taken over the entire city as well. And if you go to any cafe in San Francisco, you may feel the exact same way when you see all the programmers working on their start ups on their MacBooks (and one of those programmers may be me! :P)
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<br/>So that's what Transistor evoked in me. I don't know if the SuperGiant folks had any of this in mind, but I would bet that it's hard to work in SF and not be influenced by what's going on here. Seeing a city transform like this is a once in a life time experience, and it's certainly something to talk about. Or make a game about.Community Blogs:242311Ludo-Narrative Harmony in "The Walking Dead" - stevesanstevesan2013-01-12T18:13:04Z2013-01-12T18:13:04ZOhhhh I am so proud of myself for that title. It just sounds so damn smart and academic doesn't it?
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<br/>Anyway, I motherfucking loved The Walking Dead. And it wasn't just because of the amazing writing or voice acting or overall story, but it was because of the <strong>GAMEPLAY</strong>. Hear me out here. I'm not talking about the terrible shooting sequences, or the mediocre-at-best puzzles, or even the extremely forgettable QTEs. I'm talking about the most important interactive part of the game: the choices. The way The Walking Dead handles choices is a prime example of exploiting the medium's strengths to produce an experience that works beautifully.
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<br/>(Minor spoilers ahead)
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<br/> The fact of the matter is, video games aren't very good at making your choices matter in a big way. It's very difficult to do well (see Mass Effect 3), as it requires tons of content production and writing and testing. Sure, there are many games that do it well (Fallouts, the Witchers), but we can all agree, those games are rare and difficult to pull off. There are those that have tried to make procedural stories, and maybe one day they'll crack that nut, but so far we don't know of any good algorithms or development approaches that does it reliably.
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<br/>So what did Telltale do? They made a game where your choices don't matter all that much in the end. Sure, they matter in a localized manner, but at the end of the season, everyone's story converges to the same end result. For a game that's all about making choices, one might think, "holy crap they really fucked that up!"
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<br/>(Major spoilers ahead)
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<br/>And yet, why is the Walking Dead one of the best gaming experiences of 2012? Because it had very little ludo-narrative dissonance. It had....LUDO-NARRATIVE HARMONY. The game play was in perfect harmony with the story. Your choices in the game don't matter all that much in the end, and guess what: if the zombie-apocalypse were to actually happen, your choices won't matter all that much either. When the world goes to shit and you're just barely surviving, it doesn't really matter who you saved or how moral you were with your actions. When things are that fucked, you are probably just fucked, and anything you do only delays your inevitable death. You're going to arrive at your destination and find that the boats are all gone, and even if you did take off on a boat, are you even sure there's anything left in Atlanta? You're going to make friends only to later lose them to a bite, or you'll find out they're not your friends after all. Life is not fun in the zombie-apocalypse, and there's nothing you can do about it. Just like The Walking Dead.
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<br/>And yet, you keep on. You can't lose hope no matter what. You have to show Clementine that even when things look terrible, you must keep pushing on as long as you have a breath left. And that's the one choice you can make in such a situation: You can persist. You can survive. You can continue to play, because you can't lose hope. You can't lose Clemetine.
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<br/><img src="http://images.wikia.com/walkingdead/images/d/d3/Clementine_just_killed_a_walker.png"/>
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<br/>This is going to sound a bit cheesy, but TWD really made me appreciate the life that I do have. In the modern United States, my choices actually do matter in a lot of ways. I can affect my own career. I can choose what to eat and what to do for fun. I can choose to be a good citizen and enjoy the benefits of security (most of the time). I can choose to appreciate my family and friends, and reasonably assume that tomorrow, they will still be around. This is not true in many other countries out there. The Walking Dead could as well have been a game about refugees in the Congo, but that probably would not have sold as well as setting it in the zombie apocalypse.
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<br/>Your choices don't matter that much, and that's what makes The Walking Dead a brilliant game.Community Blogs:222329Endings: "Braid" and what it meant to me - stevesanstevesan2012-02-21T13:53:50Z2012-02-21T13:53:50ZBraid. The human condition. Citizen Kane. Is it art, or is it Art? Or is it ART? What does it all mean? Will it cure cancer?
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<br/>Yeah, fuck all that high-brow crap. Today, I wanted to share what Braid's ending meant to me in simple and honest terms. I know this sounds cliche, but playing Braid was a pretty affecting experience for me in many ways. Not only did I find the game design to be refreshingly clean, but the whole experience, especially the ending and the "books", got me to think about how I perceive the world WAIT PLEASE DON'T STOP READING I WILL EXPLAIN!
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<br/>** SPOILERS BELOW **
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<br/>In summary: Braid made me think about the pros and cons of viewing the world in a rational, mathematical way. The puzzle mechanics behave consistently, and if you think long and hard enough, you can solve them and it is satisfying. However, through the text and through the ending, it becomes clear that Tim's life story is not so clean and consistent as these puzzles. His relationships and pursuits have not turned out so well. The puzzles of Braid are an escapist fantasy for him from the complications of real life, where clever math doesn't get you much. It certainly doesn't get you the girl.
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<br/>How does this relate to me personally? When I was a kid, I was pretty damn shy and got picked on a lot for various reasons. This naturally led me to avoid social contact, and I spent a good amount of my free time just entertaining myself at home. When I got a computer and the internet, I became pretty entranced by video games and programming. I enjoyed them (and still do) because they were predictable and consistent, and it was fun to figure them out. If I didn't get something, it was probably my fault and I just needed to learn more - which was fun as well. Or the software was buggy and badly designed.
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<br/>As I grew older and started coming out of my shell, I often tried to apply this type of thinking to social interactions. I thought that there were rules to social interaction that I could figure out, and I thought people could be put in neat categories ("nerds", "jocks"). As long as I could figure all this out and apply my clever thinking skills, things would be great! However, after many years of floundering about, it became pretty clear to me that people and life are too complex for this approach to get you anywhere. I also completely underestimated the importance of emotions, appearance, subtlety, and (ugh) hygiene - I just figured that people's rationality would overcome these barriers (and it often does, but not in all aspects of life).
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<br/>So the whole of Braid is like an analogy for this narrative of my life. You first solve puzzles in the game's escapist fantasy dream-world. Things are nice, clean, and "ah ha!" moments are everywhere. You hit a switch, something happens. And that same thing will happen each time you do it, and every other switch in the world behaves similarly. You just need to figure out how to put these elements together to accomplish your goal.
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<br/>And when you're going through the last level, you're thinking, "OK I just need to rescue her by applying all these skills and concepts I've learned thus far! Then I'll rescue her and get an awesome ending!" But then the thing happens, and you realize that despite how awesomely clever you are, that doesn't matter. Tim's still a creepy fuck that needs to stop looking at women through their bed room windows.
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<br/>The ability to reason rationally and mathematically is a very valuable skill to have, no doubt about that. It will help you professionally and in many other aspects of life. But human relationships are governed by rules far too complex for such thinking. Each individual is unique and has their own wants and needs, and rationality must take a backseat to emotions.
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<br/>And that, folks, is what Braid and its ending meant to me. Hope you've enjoyed it and didn't roll your eyes too much.Community Blogs:221503Retro Love: The Quake 2 Soundtrack - stevesanstevesan2012-02-10T16:01:36Z2012-02-10T16:01:36ZIf I were to list my two biggest passions in life, it would probably be music and video games. When I was wee lad in my teens, my tastes in video games were developing along side my tastes in music, and looking back it's pretty clear that there was plenty of back and forth influence between the two. I'm pretty sure I found out about Nine Inch Nails, one of my favorite artists of all time, due to the work Reznor did for Quake. And then Quake 2 came along, and while I had no idea who "Sonic Mayhem" was, its soundtrack pretty much floored me and got me to learn guitar (I think..memory is getting fuzzy as to which came first).
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<br/>If you're a fan at all of guitar-driven metal, you owe it to yourself to listen to the whole soundtrack. It is chock full of some killer riffage that, in my humble opinion, is right up there with the best of them. Metallica, Rage Against the Machine, Tool, Guns n' Roses...and Sonic Mayhem. I mean just listen to this:
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<br/><a target="_blank" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THcQhZxtiDo">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THcQhZxtiDo</a>
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<br/>That ain't no joke, son. That is some good ol' meat and potatoes head-bangin' metal riffage, and I don't think I'll ever get sick of it. And this:
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<br/><a target="_blank" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4Eg2onR7Gs&feature=related">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4Eg2onR7Gs&feature=related</a>
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<br/>Goooood gracious lord! When the main riff kicks in I just wanna smash a Styrofoam cup or something! And then we have more industrial-ish tracks like this one:
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<br/><a target="_blank" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGwZgjOHNeo&feature=related">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGwZgjOHNeo&feature=related</a>
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<br/>I dare you to tell me you didn't just completely flip your shit when that part around 1:10 kicks in. I AM FLIPPING MY SHIT RIGHT NOW YEAAAAHHHHHH. And then we have some serious slickness like this:
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<br/><a target="_blank" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpndTkxFkVY&feature=related">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpndTkxFkVY&feature=related</a>
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<br/>So, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit (that's what blogs are for right?), but the Quake 2 soundtrack is gonna go down in my personal history as a master piece of raw, unfiltered instrumental metal that will stand the test of time. A good riff never dies.
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<br/>I'm happy to say that <a target="_blank" href="http://sonicmayhem.com/">Sonic Mayhem</a> went on to have quite a prolific career in video game soundtracks, having done recent work in games like Mass Effect 3 and Borderlands. Keep up the good work, sir! His style has changed from the guitar-heavy stuff of Quake 2 into more symphonic/techno sounds, which is a bit sad to me, but whatever keep kicking ass!
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<br/>PS: Does any one know of any "real bands" that sound like this? People usually tell me to listen to KMFDM and other industrial bands, but they just don't scratch that same riff-heavy itch Q2 does...Community Blogs:221272Confessions of a Former Pirate - stevesanstevesan2012-02-07T10:10:26Z2012-02-07T10:10:26ZForgive me internet, for I have sinned. I used to pirate almost all my games. There isn't much in this post but an honest confession, an expression of guilt, and a sincere apology to an industry that I love.
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<br/>What are my excuses? Well, before I had my own income, my parents were very stingy and rarely bought me things for fun (stereotypically Asian I suppose). It wasn't until my junior year of college that I realized I had enough disposable income from internships to buy my games. From that point on, my piracy habits went way down, and now I never pirate games anymore. I still pirate movies on occasion though, since it's still the most convenient way - or the only way at all - to watch some obscure and foreign movies that aren't on iTunes or NetFlix. I've stopped pirating music completely, probably thanks to iTunes, which I've spent hundreds of dollars on.
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<br/>But all throughout high school, I pirated tons of games. My list of shame: Deus Ex. Half-Life. Thief. System Shock 1 and 2. Quake 3. Tons of older "abandonware" games, like Ultima Underworld, tons of Lucas Arts and Sierra adventure games, countless SNES roms (Chrono trigger, Final Fantasies, etc.).
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<br/>So, I want to apologize to all those developers I might have harmed - if even just a little bit - due to my pirating. I'm an aspiring game developer myself, so I understand how tough it is. I've recently started buying games I've already played in an effort to atone for my sins. Services like GOG.com and Steam are great for this, and I've spent a good amount on both.
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<br/>At the same time, I do think that as developers we need to acknowledge that piracy is here to stay, and that the best way to adapt is to offer better service and alternative pricing schemes. Sure, piracy is wrong, but it's not <em>that</em> wrong, so people will do it. In the grand scheme of things, we're <em>making games</em> for a living. There are real moral issues to worry about in life, like war and free trade, and I really don't think the plight of game developers is one of them. The fact that we can do this at all for a living is pretty damn amazing, and we should be thankful for that.
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<br/>But I still feel bad about pirating games, and I hope you will all tell me "it's OK - we forgive you." And I really hope no one sues me.Community Blogs:220345Important Elements of Demon's Souls' Design..sssss''''' - stevesanstevesan2012-01-25T14:54:47Z2012-01-25T14:54:47ZI just wanted to share a few observations about the design of Demon's Souls. It's not a game for everyone for sure. Some people just like brutal challenge more than others - nothing right or wrong or better or worse, it's just entertainment, folks. But, if you loved it like I did, here are some characteristics of its design that I think made it successful.
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<br/>NUMERO UNO: Consistency. There was very little about Demon's Souls that was random. After going through an area dozens of times, I became very well attuned to where enemies would walk, when they would attack, how they would attack, and exactly how many stabs of my spear it would take to defeat them. And almost every single time, with few exceptions, it was all extremely predictable as long as I played my part the same way as well. In computer science terms, this makes it "deterministic" as opposed to "randomized." Most games introduce randomness in their combat systems and AI code in order to make things less predictable. But, keeping things predictable can be good because it makes it something that you can learn. If things behaved differently each time, the learning process would become more frustrating and lengthy. To put it more plainly, it's a tough target to hit, but at least it's not a moving target. I think this is what a lot of people are getting at when they say that Souls is "fair."
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<br/>NUMERO TWO: Variety. Very rarely did I find myself going "ugh not this again" in Demon's Souls. I was usually going, "WTF IS THIS?" or "Hmm..interesting...how am I gonna tackle this?" This is in stark contrast with many modern games that basically recycle the same combat scenarios over and over one after another (Mass Effect 2, lookin' at you..). This took away a lot of the pain in backtracking, because I was at least backtracking through interesting and diverse sections of the levels. Sure, after a while, they no longer become challenging (and that progression is rewarding in itself), but you still had to employ different tactics through each section which meant that you could never just switch your brain off. At a higher level, each of the five worlds had their own mix of enemies and dangers and their own unique moods. Very rarely did they just recycle the same model with a different skin. Thematically and mechanically, Souls excelled in spicing up your experience and keeping things interesting.
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<br/>NUMERO TRES: Skill-based Progression. Yes, there were RPG elements and I did do some grinding for Souls in order to upgrade my weapons and stuff, but the vast majority of the progression in the game came from the improvement of my own skills and understanding of the game. Most obviously, you learn the traps in the levels and how to avoid them. You learn how to deal with the various enemies and what attack patterns they use. You learn the optimal way to go through levels so backtracking is less tedious. You learn new ways of using your weapons and items. The fantastic combat mechanics are obviously far more skill-based than what you'd find in most RPGs. Sure, there were times when grinding for souls allowed me to make some upgrades that allowed me to get past certain bosses, but compared to most RPGs, the ratio of skill to time-based progression is much larger. Again, I rarely felt like I was mindlessly grinding. Even when I was "grinding" I was able to find particularly efficient ways of getting souls.
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<br/>NUMERO QUATTRO: <a target="_blank" href="http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/">This Wiki</a>. This is not exactly a part of the game's design, but it was absolutely vital to my enjoyment of the game. Demon's Souls is not a game that tells you much about itself, and discovering all that stuff on my own would've probably turned me off to the game. But, as with any good challenging game, a helpful community quickly grew around it, providing me with a means to short-cut all that trial and error. There was tons of information and loads of advice that got me through the experience. It really gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling and kind of restores your faith in humanity. Now, is it poor game design by From Software that I had to resort to the wiki? A year ago, I might have said "yes", but hey, most people have internet connections these days and know how to use the googles, so why not rely on it as designers? The guys who made Terraria sure as heck do, and they're doing great. Encouraging your players to do this is probably a good idea, and Demon's Souls did that with the message system (which in itself wasn't very helpful).
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<br/>So, as an aspiring game designer, if I were to ever design a game like Demon's Souls, those are probably the things I would keep in mind the most as lessons learned. Anything that I missed?Community Blogs:218495My top games of 2011 - stevesanstevesan2011-12-24T19:34:09Z2011-12-24T19:34:09ZNot necessarily all games that came out in 2011, just the ones that I played the past year and would like to share with ya'll fine folks!
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<br/><img src="http://bnbgaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/to-the-moon-436x332.jpg"/>
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<br/>To the Moon - This game turned me into a pathetic, weeping little baby. It's a completely story-driven game, and the gameplay is minimal at best (don't let the first "battle" fool you - this is NOT a JRPG or much of anything really). And you know what? That's OK, because the story is touching and thoroughly enjoyable and quite unique among video games. It's a very human story told in the style of JRPGs, so if you enjoyed the cutscenes in games like Final Fantasy on the SNES, with pixelated sprites demonstrating a surprising amount of emotional dexterity, you'll feel right at home here. Again, this is no JRPG and it's barely an adventure game. What it is, however, is damn good.
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<br/><img src="http://videogamewriters.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/sequence_xbox_360_iridium_studios.jpg"/>
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<br/>Sequence (Google for "sequence iridium") - This indie gem takes rhythm game mechanics and mixes them with the RPG tropes of battles, character stat building, and loot. And yes, it's a genre-soup that is quite delectable to even the most jaded of gamers. The battle gameplay is frenetic, satisfying, and totally groovy. With a soundtrack that includes tracks from Ron Jenkees (of Youtube fame) and a well-written, off-beat story, Iridium games has put together one of the most unique and enjoyable games this year. It's probably dirt cheap on Steam right now, so do yourself a favor and just check it out.
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<br/><img src="http://images.jayisgames.com/vvvvvv2.gif"/>
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<br/>VVVVVV - I don't typically enjoy skill-based platformers, and I never beat any of the Super Mario Bros games. So when I first saw VVVVVV about a year ago, I resisted. But finally, I decided to give it a shot again. After some initial frustration, it soon had me well hooked. Sure, there are screens where you'll die dozens of times to get your timing right, but the checkpoints are generous, those screens are usually quite clever and interesting, and it's not that brutal as far as platformers go. It ain't no Super Meat Boy, for sure. The most brutal parts ("Doing things the hard way" comes to mind) are optional. The soundtrack is also, for lack of better words, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp3qiOKuEBM">FUCKING AWESOME</a>. The story is minimal but quite lovable, and I never got sick of the characters smiling and frowning. And man - just flipping through huge spaces and exploring the map never got old. Tons of fun!
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<br/><img src="http://media.ign.com/games/image/object/143/14354294/Crysis-2_624.jpg"/>
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<br/>Crysis 2 - This game probably isn't getting much GOTY love, and that's a shame because it's great shooter. Unlike MW3/BF3, its levels are pretty open-ended. You're basically thrown into some large arena and are given complete freedom as to how to approach it. The nanosuit stuff also allows you to jump higher and scale the levels vertically, which is pretty unique for FPS games (as far as I know). It's quite satisfying to climb on top of a ledge and take down enemies from above! I hope more FPS games follow suit and offer more dynamic experiences like Crysis 2.
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<br/>Deus Ex: Human Revolution - In some ways it did surpass the original, and in other ways it regressed. But hey, I still had a blast taking down fools in its Bladerunner-esque world, and I am absolutely looking forward to the next one. Let's hope they fix some of the gameplay issues, add in more variety to the world, and continue to champion the immersive shooter. Keep up the good work, Eidos Montreal!
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<br/>Portal 2 - I don't think I need to say much about this masterpiece. The puzzles are great, the writing is fantastic (the lemon's rant...instant classic), the voice acting is probably the best the medium has ever seen, and the whole experience is expertly crafted all the way through.
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<br/>And that's about all the games that come to mind. I hope you all have a great holidays, and happy new year! Next year's is looking great for games as usual - it's a good time to be alive, folks.Community Blogs:218140We have genres...do we have "forms"? - stevesanstevesan2011-12-19T01:42:06Z2011-12-19T01:42:06ZYou hear a lot about various video game "genres," such as FPS, RTS, action, adventure, action-adventure-FPS-MMO. But we don't hear much discussion about video game "forms". Now, I'm no film major, so I may be misusing some terms here (please correct me in the comments), but here are some "forms" of film I can think of: Music video, commercial, TV show, feature film, news, sports, etc.
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<br/>Currently, video games mostly cover two of those forms analogously: feature film (AAA titles), and TV show (sort of with smaller releases). Of course, we do have some forms that I can't think of any film analogy for: Pure game-games, like Tetris. But how about articulating some of the other forms that video games can take?
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<br/>Why is this a useful way to think about video games? Well, ever since the beginning of time, people have debated what games should and should not be. Is story important? How should game play and story interact? And the answer to all this really is: In every way imaginable. Can you imagine if people were to debate how film and music should interact? In a feature film, music typically complements the movie. But in a music video, the film complements the music! Ahhh what freedom they have in film! Why should games be any different? In some games, story complements the gameplay (Portal). In other games, gameplay complements the story (To The Moon, LA Noire). And yet other games are somewhere in between.
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<br/>So, I think it's time we start forming a vocabulary for this kind of thing. This way, we can better communicate what exactly a particular game is - what "form" is it? If you watch a music video and expect a story, that's really your problem. But if I just tell you, "This is an action game", you don't really know whether or not to expect a solid story or not. This may lead you to regret your purchase! So, how about we start talking about games like this: "To the Moon is a story-driven adventure game." Or, "Uncharted 3 is a story-complemented action-adventure game." To the Moon's sole purpose is to tell you a story with some small interactive bits here and there, so it's "story-driven." Its interaction mechanics are largely about exploration and light puzzle solving, so "adventure" describes that. Uncharted 3 is an action-adventure game - it features cover-based shooting and light platforming. It is "story-complemented" because the story isn't really the point of the game - it's just to make the overall experience more enjoyable. Just as "Requiem for a Dream" wasn't made to showcase Clint Mansell's epic piece, it still made the overall experience more intense. And of course, there's a special art to film scoring, just as there will be a special art to game-story-writing.
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<br/>If someone just wanted to write a song, they wouldn't go find a movie to write it for. They'd just write the song. But, maybe a movie inspires them to write a song, and then they tailor the song to really fit the movie. And that makes for a cool experience. Or maybe someone writes a song for a movie, and then it's just so good that it can stand on its own in the form of a soundtrack album. I think that's how we should be treating story in games (shit sorry I got off on a tangent): it's just one form of story, and games that have stories are just one form of game. And it's quite the challenging form!
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<br/>OK sorry I got off a lil tangent there. But I hope this was coherent - off to bed now. G'night.Community Blogs:218119Indie PSA: Zen Puzzle Garden - stevesanstevesan2011-12-18T14:05:10Z2011-12-18T14:05:10ZIf you enjoy simple puzzle mechanics that lead to very challenging logic puzzles, then check out Zen Puzzle Garden: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.lexaloffle.com/zen.php">http://www.lexaloffle.com/zen.php</a>. The basic mechanics are extremely simple, but you'll be surprised at how many rich and interesting puzzles arise from them. It's a very bare-bones puzzle game, so don't expect any story or anything. But the presentation is very soothing and contemplative and very appropriate to the game. So, strap on your thinking caps and give it a whirl. There's a demo.Community Blogs:216487Storytelling in games? Stop worrying and just give me a good story. - stevesanstevesan2011-11-25T11:35:53Z2011-11-25T11:35:53ZInternet people sure spend a lot of time and words talking about how to tell a story in games. They write articles like this <a target="_blank" href="http://www.next-gen.biz/opinion/opinion-games-cant-tell-stories">http://www.next-gen.biz/opinion/opinion-games-cant-tell-stories</a>, trying to figure out what developers should and should not do when trying to tell a story in a game, or whether they should even try at all!
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<br/>But I think I've come to realize that all of these high-level discussions are really just side-stepping the real issue: maybe you just didn't like the story the game was telling. It's not how it's told or how much agency the player has or whether or not the player ruins the story or how much "congruence" there is between story and gameplay and all that high-level crap...you just didn't like the damn story! Maybe the setting was boring to you, or you couldn't relate to it, or you just really disliked the voice acting.
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<br/>I think we've solved story telling in games. There's a myriad of ways to do it, whether it's through cut-scenes or set pieces or radio logs or whatever. And I can confidently say the problem is solved because I've played many games that are quite successful in their story telling with quite different techniques. Portal 1/2 did a fantastic job just building a linear experience around you as a silent protagonist, and there were some brilliant moments where game play meshed with story beautifully. That's one way to do it. "To the Moon" barely had any game play, but I loved the story so much that the experience was thoroughly enjoyable anyway. That's another way to do it, and it's much like the approach taken by old-school adventure games. Uncharted 2 took yet another approach to the problem.
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<br/>These games all approached the problem differently, but they were all successful because fundamentally, I (and a lot of others) just really enjoyed the story they were telling. Sure, I will say that Portal 1/2 probably had the coolest methods for story-telling, with Uncharted 2 coming in second, and "To the Moon" being the most mundane in its approach. And I do hope developers explore more cool ways to tell stories to give us cool, new experiences!
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<br/>But if you just want to tell a good story? Fine - do it. There's so many ways to do it in a game, there's really no need to worry about "the right way." Use cutscenes - as long as they're good, I will gladly watch them! People that say "cutscenes are bullshit and anti-game" are just thinking about bad cut-scenes. And yeah, nothing kills a game's flow like a bad cut-scene. But guess what? Some of my favorite memories from great games are their cutscenes. MGS was hokey as hell but still had some great moments, Warcraft 2 had some seriously badass vignettes between missions, and "To the Moon" is pretty much one big cutscene.
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<br/>Anyway, I'm just seriously tired of people downing video games and story telling and how there's something fundamentally wrong about combining the two.Community Blogs:216266Indie PSA: You gotta check out "Sequence" - stevesanstevesan2011-11-21T00:56:54Z2011-11-21T00:56:54ZOK this indie game is really good, innovative, and only $6 so I just wanted to give it some love. Here, check it out: <a target="_blank" href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/200910/">http://store.steampowered.com/app/200910/</a> I really wish it had a demo, because I think if you played it for about 30 minutes you'd be hooked.
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<br/>This game is DDR/Guitar Hero mixed with an RPG in a really fresh way. Yes, you're gonna be pressing some keys in time with some music, and if you suck at that you will suck at this game, but there's more to it than hitting the right keys. There's also a great strategic layer to it: There are three separate tracks you can focus on, and you need to strategically decide what track you'll pay attention to. One track is for defending against attacks - if there are keys coming down this track and you don't hit them, you get damaged. Another track is mana - there are no penalties for missing keys here, but you need to hit them to gain mana (which you need to attack). And finally there is the Spell track - everytime you use a spell, which you can do anytime, keys will show up in this track, and you need to hit them in order to actually cast the spell (to attack the enemy, heal yourself, etc.). Outside of this, there are meta-structures such as leveling up and a little bit of crafting, but that's the core of the game.
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<br/>AND IT'S FUN AS HELL. It also features music by Ronald Jenkees, who is awesome. So please - check out some gameplay videos and if you're intrigued at all, BUY IT!
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<br/>I don't work for the developers at all, but I'm an aspiring indie game developer, and I like telling people about awesome, innovative indie games. Cheers!